Proverbs 9:8-9

9:8 Do not reprove ¹  a mocker or ²  he will hate you;

reprove a wise person and he will love you.

9:9 Give instruction ³  to a wise person, ⁴  and he will become wiser still;

teach ⁵  a righteous person and he will add to his ⁶  learning.

Proverbs 11:29

11:29 The one who troubles ⁷  his family ⁸  will inherit nothing, ⁹ 

and the fool ¹⁰  will be a servant to the wise person. ¹¹ 

Proverbs 16:21

16:21 The one who is wise in heart ¹²  is called ¹³  discerning,

and kind speech ¹⁴  increases persuasiveness. ¹⁵ 

Proverbs 21:11

21:11 When a scorner is punished, the naive ¹⁶  becomes wise;

when a wise person is instructed, ¹⁷  he gains knowledge.

[9:8]  ¹ tn In view of the expected response for reproof, the text now uses a negated jussive to advise against the attempt. This is paralleled antithetically by the imperative in the second colon. This imperative is in an understood conditional clause: “if you reprove a wise person.”

[9:8]  ² tn Heb “lest he hate you.” The particle פֶּן (pen, “lest”) expresses fear or precaution (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 79, §476). The antonyms “love” and “hate” suggest that the latter means “reject” and the former means “choosing and embracing.”

[9:9]  ³ tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.

[9:9]  ⁴ sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.

[9:9]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil verb normally means “to cause to know, make known”; but here the context suggests “to teach” (so many English versions).

[9:9]  ⁶ tn The term “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

[11:29]  ⁵ tn The verb עָכַר (’akhar, “to trouble”) refers to actions which make life difficult for one’s family (BDB 747 s.v.). He will be cut out of the family inheritance.

[11:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “his house.” The term בֵּית (bet, “house”) is a synecdoche of container (= house) for its contents (= family, household).

[11:29]  ⁷ tn Heb “the wind” (so KJV, NCV, NLT); NAB “empty air.” The word “wind” (רוּחַ, ruakh) refers to what cannot be grasped (Prov 27:16; Eccl 1:14, 17). The figure is a hypocatastasis, comparing wind to what he inherits – nothing he can put his hands on. Cf. CEV “won’t inherit a thing.”

[11:29]  ⁸ sn The “fool” here is the “troubler” of the first half. One who mismanages his affairs so badly so that there is nothing for the family may have to sell himself into slavery to the wise. The ideas of the two halves of the verse are complementary.

[11:29]  ⁹ tn Heb “to the wise of heart.” The noun לֵב (lev, “heart”) is an attributed genitive: “wise heart.” The term לֵב (“heart”) also functions as a synecdoche of part (= heart) for the whole (= person); see BDB 525 s.v. 7.

[16:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “wise of heart” (so NRSV).

[16:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “to the wise of heart it will be called discerning.” This means that the wise of heart, those who make wise decisions (“heart” being the metonymy), will gain a reputation of being the discerning ones.

[16:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “sweetness of lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what is said. It is a genitive of specification. The idea of “sweetness” must be gracious and friendly words. The teaching will be well-received because it is both delightful and persuasive (cf. NIV “pleasant words promote instruction”).

[16:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “teaching” or “receptivity”; KJV “learning”; NIV “instruction.”

[21:11]  ⁹ sn The contrast here is between the simple and the wise. The simple gain wisdom when they see the scorner punished; the wise gains knowledge through instruction. The scorner does not change, but should be punished for the benefit of the simple (e.g., Prov 19:25).

[21:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the instructing of the wise.” The construction uses the Hiphil infinitive construct הַשְׂכִּיל (haskil) with a preposition to form a temporal clause (= “when”). The word “wise” (חָכָם, khakham) after it is the subjective genitive. The preposition לְ (lamed) on the form is probably dittography from the ending of the infinitive.